A motion to recalendar is a written request asking an immigration judge to move an administratively closed case back onto the court’s active hearing calendar. Administrative closure pauses a case without resolving it; recalendaring unpauses it. Either the respondent or the Department of Homeland Security can file the motion, and since May 12, 2025, DHS has been filing thousands of them to restart cases that had been shelved for years.1eCFR. 8 CFR 1003.18 – Scheduling of Cases The rules governing the motion, including the factors a judge weighs when one side opposes, are set out in 8 C.F.R. § 1003.18(c).
Recalendar or Reopen — Which Motion Do You Need
These two motions get confused constantly, and filing the wrong one causes real problems. A motion to recalendar applies only when the case was administratively closed, meaning the judge set it aside without issuing a final decision. A motion to reopen applies after a final order has been entered, such as a removal order, and asks the court to revisit the case based on new facts or evidence.2Executive Office for Immigration Review. EOIR Policy Manual – 4.7 Motions to Reopen
Motions to reopen carry a filing fee and face strict time and number limits. Motions to recalendar sit on a separate track under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.18(c) and do not appear on EOIR’s fee schedule next to motions to reopen or reconsider.3U.S. Department of Justice. Types of Appeals, Motions, and Required Fees If you are not sure which category your case falls into, check the EOIR automated case information system using your nine-digit Alien Registration Number before you draft anything.
When These Motions Get Filed
Most respondent-filed motions involve something outside the court finally happening. Administrative closure is usually imposed because another agency or process needs to act first, and once that act occurs, someone has to put the case back on the calendar.
Common triggers include:
- Approval of an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, so the respondent can now apply for adjustment of status through the immigration court.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6 Part B Chapter 5 – Adjudication of Family-Based Petitions
- A visa priority date becoming current on the State Department’s monthly Visa Bulletin.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 1eCFR. 8 CFR 1003.18 – Scheduling of Cases
Unopposed or Joint Motions
When both parties join the motion, or the non-moving party affirmatively says it does not object, the judge must grant it unless the judge can articulate “unusual, clearly identified, and supported reasons” for denying it. In practice, unopposed motions are almost always granted. If you are the one filing, trying to secure DHS’s non-opposition before you submit the motion is worth the effort.
Opposed Motions
When one side opposes, the judge weighs the totality of the circumstances. The regulation lists the specific factors:
- The reason recalendaring is sought
- The basis for any opposition
- How long the case has been administratively closed
- Whether a petition or application was actually filed during the closure, and how long the respondent waited to file it
- The result of any adjudication of that petition or application
- The likelihood of success if the petition or application is still pending
- The anticipated outcome of removal proceedings if the case is recalendared
- The respondent’s ICE detention status
No single factor controls, and the judge can rule either way over either party’s objection. The factors draw from Matter of Avetisyan and Matter of W-Y-U-, both now codified in the regulation itself.6U.S. Department of Justice. Matter of Avetisyan, 25 I&N Dec. 688 (BIA 2012)
How to Prepare the Motion
Before drafting, confirm the case is still administratively closed through the EOIR case information system. If it has already been recalendared, you need a different approach.
A proper motion package includes:
- A cover page with the respondent’s name, A-number, and the title “Motion to Recalendar”
- A statement of facts covering the case history, the reason for the original closure, and what has changed
- A legal argument that walks through the 8 C.F.R. § 1003.18(c)(3) factors and explains why recalendaring fits the totality of the circumstances
- Supporting evidence such as an I-797 Notice of Action for an approved petition, a current Visa Bulletin printout, or other documentation backing the statement of facts
- A proposed order for the judge to sign
- A proof of service showing you served DHS
If you have moved since the case was closed, file Form EOIR-33 to update your address. The immigration court will only change your contact information upon receipt of that specific form; it will not update your address from any other filing.7EOIR Respondent Access. Change of Address Form (EOIR-33/IC) Skipping this step is how respondents end up never receiving a hearing notice and getting ordered removed in absentia.
Try to contact the DHS Office of the Principal Legal Advisor handling the case before filing to find out whether the government will join, agree, or oppose. A joint or unopposed motion faces a far lower bar.
Filing the Motion
Filing goes through the EOIR Courts and Appeals System (ECAS), which has been mandatory for attorneys and accredited representatives since February 2022.8Executive Office for Immigration Review. EOIR Courts and Appeals System (ECAS) – Online Filing ECAS issues an immediate electronic receipt and keeps everything in digital format.9Executive Office for Immigration Review. ECAS – Attorneys and Accredited Representatives Pro se respondents may still file on paper with the immigration court that has jurisdiction.
Service on DHS is required regardless of how you file. Serve the DHS Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (sometimes still called the Office of the Chief Counsel) at the office handling your case, and include the proof of service in the filed package.
If DHS Files to Recalendar Your Case
You are not required to accept a DHS motion. You can file a written opposition, and the judge has to work through the regulatory factors before granting the motion over your objection.
Start with the DHS motion itself. Look for procedural defects: improper service, missing proof of service, or failure to make a good-faith effort to find out your position before filing. Any of these can go into your opposition or justify an extension request.
The default deadline to respond to a motion in immigration court is 10 days from when the court receives the motion, unless the judge sets a different deadline.2Executive Office for Immigration Review. EOIR Policy Manual – 4.7 Motions to Reopen If DHS served by mail and you got the motion late, file for an extension immediately. A motion that goes unanswered is treated as unopposed, which effectively hands DHS the win.
In the opposition itself, address each regulatory factor and explain why it cuts against recalendaring. Length of closure, equities built up during that time, U.S. citizen family members, pending relief outside the court — all of these are relevant to the totality-of-the-circumstances analysis. If recalendaring now would disrupt a petition still being adjudicated by USCIS without serving any legitimate enforcement purpose, say so and document it.
If the Judge Denies the Motion
You have two main options, and both run on a 30-day clock.
- File a motion to reconsider with the same immigration judge, pointing to a legal or factual error in the judge’s reasoning. The deadline is 30 days from the order.10United States Department of Justice. EOIR Policy Manual – Appx C Deadlines
- Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals by filing Form EOIR-26 within 30 days. The current filing fee is $1,030, with fee waivers available. The BIA reviews factual findings for clear error and legal questions from scratch.3U.S. Department of Justice. Types of Appeals, Motions, and Required Fees
Think carefully before choosing. If you file a motion to reconsider instead of appealing, any later BIA appeal from the denial of that reconsideration motion will be limited to the issues you raised in the reconsideration. Arguments you did not preserve are gone.
After the Case Is Back on the Docket
Once the judge grants recalendaring, the court issues a new hearing notice with the date, time, and location. The notice goes to the address on file, which is why updating Form EOIR-33 matters before, not after, the ruling comes down. The hearing itself may be scheduled months out depending on the court’s calendar.
Attendance is not optional. If you miss a hearing after receiving proper written notice, the judge can order you removed in absentia without you ever appearing.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings An in absentia order makes you immediately removable when encountered by immigration officers, and it bars you from cancellation of removal and voluntary departure for 10 years. Undoing one is narrow: file a motion to reopen within 180 days and prove exceptional circumstances like serious illness or a natural disaster, or show you never received proper notice. If the court has no record of an address change on file, the lack-of-notice argument gets much harder.
A Note on Work Authorization
Administrative closure does not grant immigration status and does not by itself make you eligible for an employment authorization document. Recalendaring does not change that either way. If you are an asylum applicant, the 180-day EAD clock can be affected when a motion causes delay and the judge grants it; the clock may stop until the next hearing, and whether it restarts depends on the reason for any adjournment at that hearing.12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Applicant-Caused Delays in Adjudications of Asylum Applications and Impact on Employment Authorization If a pending asylum case is in the mix, get an immigration attorney to look at the timing before you file.